Monday 14 December 2009

Letter of Last Legacy - Donnla Nic Gearailt, Ireland

Dear Commander,

Given what is likely to have happened if you are reading this, I don't see any point in telling you what to do.

Do whatever you think is right for you and your men. I wish you and the remaining humans on earth the best of luck for your future.

Donnla Nic Gearailt.

Letter of Last Legacy - Janet King, UK

Dear Commander,

I am terribly sorry. As Prime Minister I should have abolished our nuclear weapons and then the UK would not have been seen as a threat.

I realise that would have made you unemployed but I am sure that your exceptional abilities and qualities would have enabled you to have found employment in the academic world.

Yours regretfully,

Janet King

Sunday 13 December 2009

Idiots All - Lorne Case

My Dearest (Would Be) Commander

There is no point writing anything of true purpose. You state clearly what your personal beliefs are regarding the situation and you will insure (as you already have) that the only letters published on the blog or presented to anyone in any government will reflect those points of view.

If you were really an open minded journalist with the welfare of the future worlds in mind, then you would advocate in the strongest sense the USE of any nuclear weapons RIGHT NOW !!!! Without exception, the ills the globe currently faces are the direct result of the rampant, uncontrolled spread of the most virulent plague the world has ever seen .......... and it is called "The Human Species". At the current rate of growth (which has NOT slowed regardless of what the UN would like us to believe) the population will exceed 30 Billion by the year 2075. I don't know about you, but I don't want to be alive to witness that horror. Nuclear holocaust will be a welcome relief in those times.

Grow up ......... the only reason you are even able to undertake this farce, the only reason you are even allowed to state your point of view is because of sacrifices made by those with more courage than your kind can possibly imagine, and .......... because the nuclear deterrent worked !!!!!!!

Lorne Case
Civil Aviation Systems Expertise

Letter of Last Legacy - Meg Nakano, Japan.

Dear Commander,

Thank you for your years of service, and for bearing the burden of leadership. Although your command structure has been obliterated, your duties to civilization and mankind are just beginning. Queen, country, and world will appreciate your wise decisions and disciplined reaction to the events. The chain of command on your vessel is to remain in effect, and delegation of responsibility is to be respected.

The world that you left behind no longer exists. The world you left was a world of competition for survival: the world you face now is a world where cooperation for survival is vital. Retribution will only mean further useless destruction. Save your capabilities for a period of time, while you assess if they will be needed for something constructive.

Discuss this and the following review items with your crew as you see fit:

On board your vessel: Your first goal is to preserve the mental health of every member of the crew. Keep every crew member busy, and every crew member connected to at least 3 others in the group. Being alone with individual thoughts may be dangerous, not just for the individual but for the group. Support those who are less resilient, watch to see that the stronger are not overburdened. It is vital that the image of winners and losers is abandoned.

Everyone is to be valued and everyone is to have work to keep themselves busy. Do not ignore the arts: every crew member who can draw, play a musical instrument, or engage in any sort of means of production must teach these skills to others in free time.

Education will be vital in drawing people out of themselves, and help maintain mental health. A high level of education among your crew will enable them to make better contributions to the survival of the remaining world.

Your next goal is to preserve the physical health of every member of the crew. Catalog what is and what will be needed. Assess your resources, and help educate every member of the crew in as many medical procedures as possible, including the manufacture of medical supplies.

Outside your vessel: Assess the damage worldwide. Catalog what has survived. Outline what your options are for long-term survival across several generations. Analyze what basic resources and information need to be maintained, not just for physical survival, but for cultural survival as well. Include assessments of the ability to procreate. Discuss your forward-looking plans.

Assess the land-based survivors carefully. You will probably need to join one of them, or deposit a small group of crew members with several groups. The role of your vessel will change over time, and you will need to discuss this as well with members of your crew.

Civilization and the survival of mankind will be strongly affected by your decisions. We trust you to make them wisely. We are very, very sorry for what has happened.

Thank you again for your long years of service, and your acceptance of the burden of leadership.
God be with you.

Sincerely,

Meg Nakano

Tuesday 8 December 2009

Letter of Last Legacy - Trish Amee, Australia

Dear Commander,

I warned you didn't I? Time and time again I told you those bastards were out to get us. But would you listen? No. You think I enjoy nagging??? You think that's my purpose in life, to nag you knobs in high places?? FFS, when are you going to listen???

Now you've got a boot load of bombs, what ya gonna do huh? Blow everyone else up just to get back at them? Is that the way you treated your brother when he hurt you?

I'm only going to say this once. Put the weapons down!!! It's not all about YOU, you know! If I've told you once, I've told you a thousand times, this is NOT the way to handle your squabbles. You're old enough to know better.

Now, the UK has been obliterated. It can't be fixed. Luckily it won't make much difference not having them around and at least we don't have to look at the old Queen anymore. BUT, if you start heading towards Australia I'll have to put you in time out! Look at me when I'm speaking to you! And wipe that look off your face before I wipe it off for you! You'll be laughing on the other side of your face by the time I've finished with you boy.

Now, steer your ship towards the US. If you're going to point those things at someone, do it there. Nobody likes the US anyway. And there's a few pollies there I could definitely live without.

Sincerely,
Nanna Trish

Letter of Last Legacy - Linda Mason, UK

Dear Commander

No preamble because we both know why you are reading this letter.

The UK no longer exists and it is entirely probable that the rest of the world is in or will soon be, in the same state. Armageddon at last, for it seems with hindsight that human kind has been hell bent on reaching this place since the dawn of time. In this situation it seems to me that you and your crew have three choices: One, you pop the pills now and join the rest of the human race in whatever afterlife is waiting for all of us. Two, you retaliate for what it is worth and bare the responsibility for the destruction of whatever remains and then live with that for whatever short time is left or three, you do not retaliate, you embrace the opportunity proffered and you accept that there is no point for retaliation, further destruction and that there will be no counsellors for post traumatic stress disorder and set full steam ahead in search of those that survive in a place that might just be able to sustain life in a new order.

The choice is yours.

I sincerely hope that you choose the latter and accept the responsibility for taking humans to a new stage in life on planet earth. That road is probably the hardest to choose for all the mistakes that we have made before are there waiting to be made all over again, if lessons are not learned. However, if you choose either of the two former then I do understand and I do not condemn. It’s down to hope. If you have hope in your hearts then life is possible, a new society is possible, a new order is possible but please, if that is your choice make the new order as equal, as spiritual but not religious, as kind and considerate, as peaceful, as joyful and life embracing as the old order was as unequal, unkind, inconsiderate, warlike, sad and over bearing and lacking in any good spirit at all. Teach the children that will come that the old order that brought them to this place and time they are born in was corrupt and wrong and that they have the opportunity to shrug off the sins of their parents and make a better planet with values that will never lead to another Armageddon. A chance to really learn the lessons of history for thus far, they have been ignored.

I do not envy your choices, nor your challenges, nor your knowledge of what is now history but I wish you peace in whatever path you choose.

Linda Mason
Aldridge
Staffs
UK

Sunday 6 December 2009

Letter of Last Legacy, Rebekah Gronowski, UK

Dear Commander,

If you are now reading this letter, it means that the 'unthinkable event' has already happened. It means that someone in the world has already made the 'first strike'!

This saddens me as it means that I may never again see my two sons, my four grandchildren and my three great-grand-children. Indeed, they may already be dead - I do hope that they are not. If they have survived so far, I wonder what kind of a world is left for them to inhabit? I hope that they may survive in a way which enables them to remain human.

If you are reading this Letter of Last Legacy, I hope that it means you are wondering whether or not to use the terrible weapon in your hands to strike back at those who made the 'first strike'.

I beg you - please - to think of all those whose innocent lives you will be taking if you use the powers which have been entrusted to you. We do not blame you, you have been placed in an unenviable position - you and all your crew - I would not like to be in your shoes. In the end, please do the right thing - even if this means defying your superiors to do it.

"ALL THAT IT TAKES FOR EVIL TO SUCCEED IS FOR GOOD MEN (AND WOMEN) TO STAND BY AND DO NOTHING".

In this case, the situation in which you and you crew find yourselves, please DO NOTHING - do NOT use the terrible weapon which is in your hands, in your control.

Please DO the right thing, DO the ethical thing and walk away from your assignment, a terrible assignment, but please DO walk away from it. No-one will blame you - people will thank you in the long run.

Walk away and start afresh, begin a new world where there is no prejudice, no hatred for 'the other', 'the different' or 'the enemy'. Let there be NO enemy, anywhere in the world. Build a new world - a world of understanding, a world of co-operation, a world of 'one family', a world of trust and a world of PEACE & LOVE!

Please think on these ways forward - if you believe in a God or Supreme Being, ask for guidance but, if you don't believe, look inward into yourself, into your own heart and ask yourself, 'What is the right thing to do?' You will surely find the answer within yourself because mankind has an innate sense of fairness and morality which has been inherited from the many generations which have gone before.

The generations which have gone before are generations of human beings - please do not lose your own humanity on the altar of other people's misguided ambitions. Think for yourself and for your crew. If it is possible to do so safely, do everything in your power to de-commission your weapon and make sure that it, and others like it, can never be used again against other human beings.

We are a human family - no-one likes a family break-up - this is effectively what you would be doing if you use this awful weapon of mass destruction. There may not be many people left but, at the very least, please give those who are left a chance to survive along with you and your crew.

I know that you will do what you feel is right - may you be guided well in your decision, whatever that may be.

Go in peace and love,

Rebekah Gronowski

East Lothian
Scotland
United Kingdom

Tuesday 1 December 2009

Letter of Last Legacy - Shangeetha Rajah Kumaran, Malaysia

Dear Commander,

I pray that this day would never come and you do not have the burden of reading this as much as I have when writing this letter. It is indeed a sad day that our world has lost its sense of humanity if you are reading this.
You and your men and women must be angry and hurting but do not let it blind your common sense. Do not, under any circumstances, retaliate by firing that nuclear missile on innocent people. It must be chaotic up there but you and your men and women must be strong and remain calm. All of you were chosen because you are the best among equals. Do not let blind fury rule and put an end to civilisation. The world as we know it might be coming to an end but the future lies with you and your brave men and women. You are in a position to start a New World. A world that will not have to see what nuclear devastation does. A world that lives with a strong sense of humanity. A world that does not look at violence for an answer. A world where all men and women are treated equally.

Go now with my blessing and prayers and may you and your fine men and women find a place where a new civilisation will begin. Do not let History repeat itself but learn from our mistakes. Take care Commander and may God bless you and your men and women,

Shangeetha Rajah Kumaran

Saturday 28 November 2009

Letter of Last Legacy. K.A. Kincade, USA

Dear Commander

You already know the only circumstances under which you are presently reading this letter.

My request to you is that if humans are fortunate to survive this horrific event then all humans must STOP discriminating against and oppressing each other entirely on the basis of race, gender, sexual preferences, skin color, and handicaps or other "differences". As long as some humans are excluded and/or mistreated by other humans -- for real or perceived differences of any kind, there will never be any equity or freedom for humans on this planet, at all.

If we humans cannot learn to cooperate completely -- if we have learned nothing, from this incredible disaster -- then we humans deserve to become extinct.

K.A. Kincade

Tuesday 24 November 2009

Letter of Last Legacy - Martin Veart. United Kingdom

Dear Commander,

If you are reading this letter, it must be assumed that the government and senior command are no more. Indeed, the very nation-state that was the United Kingdom has ceased to exist. These grand labels hide the human cost of the past few days. Millions are probably dead and in the weeks to come, further millions of our compatriots are destined to a slower death.

The logic of the nuclear deterrent would demand that your vessel must counter-strike to maximum effect. For else how else will the enemy be punished and our people avenged? Your crew is professional, highly trained and I have total confidence that you are all ready to perform whatever duties you are called to attend.

Forgive me Commander if I cannot advocate such a path. The cold logic of real politick must be set aside when we are dealing with the very viability of the human species.

It is possible that what has happened is but a small part in a greater conflagration that has already doomed all the peoples of the world to extinction. You must decide this on the evidence that is currently available. But in any case, I would not have you and your crew add fuel to the funeral pyre that humanity has created for itself.

My final request to you is thus: find a way of putting your nuclear weapons beyond any possible use. After this is done and if it comes to light that events are not as bleak as they seem to be now at home, then I call upon you to perform whatever service you still can for what is left of the United Kingdom. If all is lost there then seek safe haven for you and your crew, wherever that may be on the planet.

All prophesy is now vain but I will make one prediction nonetheless. If this be not the end of humanity then I foresee that future civilisation will recoil in horror at very thought of nuclear weapons. They shall never been built or used again.

I hope you and your crew will be among the first of that new civilisation.

Farewell and God speed,


Martin Veart.

Monday 23 November 2009

Notes for contributors and aims of this site

This site is inviting people to write a letter of last legacy, as written by the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and carried on board British nuclear-armed submarines. It is to be opened and read only when it is clear that the United Kingdom has been wiped out by a sudden nuclear strike.
One does not have to be British to take part. Just imagine what you would say if it would be your own words that the commander of nuclear weapons was reading, presuming you and your friends and family are no more. What would you advise that commander to do?

Please send your letter of last legacy to dear.commander@yahoo.com

The purpose of this site is to compile the best of the contributions, have them printed (even if this is at my own expense) and send the results to the leaders of the world's nuclear-armed states. By best, it is meant those entries that are most effective in making their point. It does not mean those entries that I, as the editor, agrees with.
This site will close at the end of 2011 and it is intended to have the printed version available in time for the 2012 Olympics, as this is currently the greatest symbol of world participating in friendly competition.

Contributions are welcomed from all, whether your particular nation retains nuclear weapons or not, as the effects of a nuclear attack does not respect national boundaries. If English is not your first language, you can send a letter in your native tongue but please also send an English translation.

You may publish under a pseudonym or anonymously at your own request. But in your e-mail contribution, please include your real name, a contact e-mail and your nationality. Other biographical notes may be included at your own discretion.

In case you are thinking this premise is make-believe, here is a link for your reference:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1090400/HMS-Apocalypse-Deep-Atlantic-submarine-waits-alert-nuclear-missiles-end-world--.html
and the original radio programme:
http://earideas.com/earideas/explore/show/61035/The+Human+Button
which is about 30 minutes in length.

Contributions that contain racist or abusive material will be published but obviously without the condonement of the editor. Comments will be invited upon all contributions.

Martin Veart
Edinburgh, United Kingdom.